


Forever

by Imtrouble



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-25
Updated: 2018-03-25
Packaged: 2019-04-08 04:29:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,329
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14097228
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Imtrouble/pseuds/Imtrouble
Summary: A tale of love and forever.





	Forever

He sits and stares into an empty fire grate. 

The room is cold and dark. A chair sits broken in a corner of the room, smashed in suggested rage. The man is lifeless, but he is not dead. 

Not dead, no, but broken.

\-----------------------------------------

Ron Weasley could not hold the tears in any longer. Big fat tears fell down his face as he watched his best friend, his first love - being buried in the ground. The last of Voldemort’s victims. The last to fall. 

It was too hard to take. It was months after the war, but still it was affecting all of their lives. He watched the stony-faced man give away no emotion as he threw an item on top of the dark mahogany coffin. 

Ron was not quite sure how the man did not break down, to the right of him, his entire family was stifling sobs…and Ginny was wrapped up in the arms of Harry, whose tear-stained face still looked shocked at the situation he had found himself in. 

It was a Muggle funeral, it seemed fitting after all Hermione’s family were all Muggle and this was their last comfort in which to take from this devastating situation. 

People started to wander away back towards the waiting cars, which would take them back to Hermione’s fiancé’s house, where the wake would take place. 

Ron felt like he never wanted to leave. 

`How could he?’ 

Suddenly, there was a huge part of him missing. He felt a gentle tug on his arm; he glanced down to see his girlfriend Demelza looking up at him with her beautiful green eyes suggesting to him that it was time to leave. 

“I can’t,” he whispered hoarsely. “How can I leave her behind?” 

"Because she would want you to Ron,” she whispered back, smiling a watery smile. “Hermione would be so mad if she thought you wouldn’t live your life.” 

Ron nodded, “I know, but I need more time.”

“I know,” his girlfriend whispered back, “I’ll wait for you back by the Apparition point. Take as long as you need.” 

Ron watched Demelza leave, Ginny joining her at the Apparition point. That left Ron and Harry together with the Grangers and Hermione’s stony-faced fiancé.

“How is he doing it?” Harry asked Ron quietly. 

“I don’t know, I’m waiting for him to crack at any moment, it’s got to happen, and everyone else has in turn.” Ron replied in earnest. 

“I don’t know. You know Ron, Malfoys have never shown emotion. Draco in particular.” 

\-----------------------------------

Draco stood silently, watching everyone else leave. He hugged a tearful Mrs. Granger and received a pat on the back from Mr Granger, then watched as they too slowly walked away from the graveyard in which they had buried their only daughter.

He noticed that this left him alone with Potter and Weasley. A wry smile almost graced the young Malfoy’s lips. They were after all, the two men that Draco had always shared Granger with. 

The two men walked over to Draco, the three of them standing in silence, watching over the grave of the brave Gryffindor who had fought to the end. 

If anyone had been watching they would have seen the black and ginger haired boys starting to cry again, and the blonde’s emotionless face darken as the earth began to hit the coffin, burying Hermione Granger in the ground forever.

\-------------------------------------

I miss you so much  
Your light, your smile, your way  
And everything about us

The house was silent. The guests to the wake had left at last, leaving Draco in a torturous silence. 

No more would he hear her bubbly laugh or her angry shout at him for once again leaving a mess on the kitchen table, which she would always managed to place her books down into, covering them in jam or whatever mess he had left behind.

What will I do now?

His life as he knew it, was over. She had begun to make his life something worth living for. He knew he hadn’t been easy. He had many issues in his life, which he fought to put behind him. 

He was amazed to have been let into her life during their 7th year after the trio had been captured and the four of them managed to escape together. She had found him beaten by his aunt for defying them, when it was obvious Draco had known who the trio was.

Hermione told him after he had recovered, that she didn’t do it for him, but because Dumbledore had thought there was good in him somewhere, and she was determined to prove that the headmaster didn’t die for nothing. 

The transition from the Dark side to the Light had not been easy. He didn’t seek Hermione out, and nor did she come and find him. However, eventually they found comfort in one another. He didn’t let her in for months, and he wasn’t always the easiest person to be around. Sometimes, he was thankful that she was away most of the time, otherwise he didn’t think she would have stayed with his moody self. 

Over time she began to change him; he had started to confide in her and let himself relax around her. 

Their first time had been spine-tingling; he had never felt so emotionally attached to anyone, especially during an act. It was usually was a release for him and nothing more. 

She had understood his needs, his desire, and she understood him. No one had ever understood him before, except for maybe Dumbledore. 

The fire began to die out in front of him, and he let him mind drift to that particular night…

Draco fell panting on top of Hermione, being careful not to crush her body beneath his larger one. 

“Sweet Merlin, Hermione,” was all he could manage. 

Her sweet laugh tinkled breathlessly out, her breath making the few loose strands of his hair tickle his sweaty forehead. 

He glanced down at their sweat drenched bodies, his softening cock slipping smoothly out of her body. 

He rolled off of her and pulled her close to him as they caught their breaths back. 

“That was mind-blowing, Granger.” 

“You weren’t so bad yourself, Malfoy,” she retaliated. 

She turned to face him. “You know,” she spoke thoughtfully, “I have never seen you so relaxed in your own body. I finally feel connected to you. No pun intended.” She smiled wryly at his smirk. 

“It’s nice to see this side of you, Draco,” she whispered as she kissed butterfly kisses softly over his chest, almost embarrassed by what she had said.

Draco brought her face to look at his by grasping her chin gently with his wand hand. 

“Hermione, I know I can be a cold bastard at times. I also know I don’t deserve you and that you don’t deserve the way I treat you sometimes…”

“No, don’t interrupt,” he said to her as he put a finger to her lips, which had opened to speak.

“I want you to know that I will become the person I want to be for you. I have a lot to overcome, but I know with your help, Hermione Granger, I will be able to do it. I just pray that you don’t get sick of me before I get there, because dammit Granger, I think I may have fallen in love for the first time in my life.” He saw tears shining in her eyes as he told her he loved her. 

“I love you too, Draco Malfoy,” she whispered, “and I don’t think I could ever choose to leave you. Not now, not when I know there is so much more to you than the school bully who hated me.”

“I don’t think I ever hated you, Hermione, not really. I was born and raised with a prejudice, but that’s not hate. I never knew enough about you to hate you. I disliked you perhaps, but then what could you expect? You beat me in every single class,” he smirked. 

“Not my fault that you’re stupid,” she laughed back, as his hands began to tickle her. She cried out with laughter, and he knew for certain that he loved this beautiful woman.

For only one night, all thoughts of the impending battle and the war they were stuck in left their minds, and this new blossoming love was allowed to take full control. 

“Come on, Malfoy,” Hermione had said when he had finally let her go. She stood up and the small blanket they had wrapped themselves in fell off her body to leave it bare to his eyes. “Let’s take this to the bedroom.”

Draco had managed to forget that they were currently naked in Bill Weasley’s living room, their passion having taken over all sane thoughts. He caught up with her as they tiptoed through the hallways to Hermione's room.

Draco’s tears finally fell as he remembered that beautiful night; the night that he had declared for the first time, his love for Hermione Granger, the night which, turned out to be the turning point for his miserable existence. He had become a much nicer person from that point on, and his bitterness to all things happy had slowly begun to disappear. He still relapsed at times, but she had always been there to see him through it. 

Though you’re gone  
You’re still here  
In my heart in my tears  
Yeah, you sure left your mark  
We were just getting started.

Draco glanced around the room and his eyes caught the picture frame which held her picture, his favourite one. It had been taken at their engagement party. Two months after the war had ended, he had summoned the courage to do the one thing he had sworn he would never do. 

He had asked a girl to marry him, but instead of the girl being a money-grabbing whore, the type he had always assumed he would be forced to marry, he had asked the girl who had saved him from himself. A girl who didn’t care whether he had money or looks, but a girl who had looked inside of him and saw something that even he couldn’t see. 

The party had not been a huge affair, but big enough that Hermione had arranged for Colin Creevey to attend and take photos for them. She had insisted that they start to build some good memories, for their lives had held enough sadness. 

He glanced at the picture again, where the Hermione in the picture waved out and laughed at the camera. Draco knew Ron Weasley had fallen into the fountain right behind Colin just as he took the photo, hence the pure look of glee on his fiancée’s face. He looked at the next picture, in which he himself held onto her. It had been taken directly after the first, and Draco remembered exactly what he was whispering into her ear. 

“I’ll make a Slytherin out of you yet, my dear.” 

She had laughed at his words and had kissed him, which had taken him by surprise. Neither of them were big on public displays of affection. He hadn’t cared, though, and neither had she as Colin had snapped away at them, Harry finally dragging him away to give them some peace. 

Draco would remain eternally grateful for that, as he had quickly pulled his fiancée away to the parlour and proceeded to have mind-blowing sex with her. 

It had also been that day where they had made another big decision. A decision that had changed their lives. He couldn’t help but drift away to that day…

Hermione was tidying her hair and flattening her rumpled clothes. Draco stood buttoning his shirt, watching her as she performed the contraception spell on herself before turning to him, smiling.

“Hermione, I don’t think we should do that anymore,” he spoke up, surprising even himself as he said it.

“What?” she asked him, shocked,” have sex?”

“No,” he smiled at her, laughing. Pulling her close, “I don’t want to use the contraception spell anymore.” 

“You want a child?” she asked him, shocked. 

“I don’t want to control the fact that we don’t, Hermione. I would rather let Mother Nature, so to speak, take control and let be what will be. We’ve controlled so much of our lives and had our lives controlled by others for so long, I want to live like today is the last day we have. If that means we have a baby, then so be it. I want to be with you forever, Hermione, till our dying days. I want you to have my children one day, but I don’t want to leave anything to chance. I can understand if you don’t want to, though, it’s a big request and a big responsibility, and, it is after all, your body.” 

“Shut up Draco,” she had whispered at him. “I can think of nothing better than to have your baby. We have all the time in the world though,” she had whispered, “but that doesn’t mean we can’t start trying now.” She smirked cheekily at him. “That will be the last time we use the spell.” 

“Are you sure?” “He had asked. “I don’t want to make decisions for you, and I know it’s soon, but I just want to have it all with you.”

“And you will,” she replied. I don’t think it’s too soon, Draco, don’t worry. We have grown up so fast anyway. I feel ready. I just didn’t think you would want to. Not yet, anyway.”

They had gone back to the party with smiles larger than before. 

He twiddled the ring that swung from his neck, it was an engagement gift from Hermione. She had wanted him to have a ring, but had attached it to a chain so that it would rest near his heart. She had etched Forever on to it. He knew she had meant it.

It wasn’t long enough  
It wasn’t long enough together  
But it was long enough  
Yeah, it was long enough  
To last forever

Draco let the tears fall freely as he looked at her beautiful face, a face he wouldn’t see again in the flesh. A face that he would never wake up to, look at as he made love to her, or comfort after the nightmares made her cry. 

The old Slytherin lost his temper at this point. He picked up a dining chair and smashed it against the wall, hitting it over and over until it lay in pieces on the floor. 

Three months after their engagement party, she had fallen ill. Her curse scar from the fight at the ministry in their 5th year had started to cause her problems. It started to rip itself open one night, and the sound of her scream would haunt Draco for as long as her beautiful face would; Forever.

He sat back down in his armchair, wringing his hands as that awful night came back to him.

Sometimes I get so mad  
I scream, I swear at this  
‘Cause this isn’t how we planned it  
I sit here  
In a cold room  
Praying, waiting on you  
To run back through that door  
To the way it was before you left

Draco had awoken to her screams. It was a scream filled with pain. 

“Hermione? What’s wrong, love?”

“Draco, Draco,” she had cried, not being able to get the words out for him to help her. He noticed her clutching her stomach tightly.

He pulled back the quilt and noticed dark red blood staining the sheets so quickly that it scared him to death. 

He pulled her out of bed and into his arms, trying desperately to block out her desperate cries. She clung to him tightly. They apparated straight to Mungo’s, and he watched as healers ran around her, rushing her off to a private room. He was left standing in the lobby covered in her blood. 

He had contacted the Weasleys, Potters and her parents, and soon he was surrounded by noise and bustle. It settled him to listen to other voices. They had helped to block out the repetitive sounds of Hermione’s screams in his mind.

Hours later, the Chief Healer came to speak to him. Draco was led to another private room where the doctor had explained the situation to him.

Hermione had fallen pregnant. The slight changes that had already happened to her body in the early stages of pregnancy had caused the scar tissue to rip open, and Hermione lost too much blood. The healers had tried everything to save the embryo, but the strain and the pain caused on Hermione’s body was too much, along with the lost blood and she had subsequently miscarried.

It had then taken the healers four hours to heal the curse scar again, and even now they were unsure as to whether it would hold and heal, or it would split open again. Curse scars were hard to predict, apparently. The healer had given Draco time to get his head round the news before taking him to see Hermione. 

She had seemed so small to him, fragile and pale. When he opened the door, she turned to him and her tears had begun to fall. He flew to her side and wrapped her in his arms as gently as he could and cried with her. It was neither hers nor his fault, but for a while they had a hard time accepting it, both of them blaming themselves, no matter how much the other protested. 

They had gotten through it together. The fact that Hermione couldn’t have children was a hard blow to both, but their love for one another had never been doubted. 

Draco had guided Hermione through her recovery, and slowly, they began to enjoy life again. They decided there were always other methods and ways which, they could discuss in the future, but for now they had each other and that was more than enough. 

Draco’s fists clenched as he cried for their lost child, their lost opportunities and their lost lives. 

“WHY?” He screamed himself hoarse, trashing more of his furniture in pure rage. DID YOU NOT TAKE ENOUGH FROM ME? DID I NEED FURTHUR PUNISHMENT? COULD YOU HAVE NOT GIVEN ME LONGER?”

“Just a little longer,” he sobbed.

It wasn’t long enough  
It wasn’t long enough together  
But it was long enough  
Yeah, it was long enough  
To last forever

He had fallen into a fitful sleep, and did not stir when a person apparated into his living room. 

Glancing at the mess, the young man caught his breath. 

“Oh Draco,” he murmured mournfully. He began to tidy up some of the mess for his best friend. 

Blaise Zabini had never seen Draco in this state, not even when he and Hermione had lost their baby. He had remained strong for her then, and she for him. However, now, Blaise realised, there was no one there for Draco to remain strong for, and he had lost his strength with the death of his betrothed.

Blaise did what he could in the house; he rekindled the fire and poured a strong mug of hot sweet tea and placed it on the table next to his friend. He also left a vial of sleeping potion, even though he knew Draco wouldn’t take it. He left a quick note and then Apparated away.

Hours later, Draco awoke with a cry. He had witnessed Hermione’s death again. He saw the fire dying again and noticed the note and tea by his side. He knocked the vial of potion out of the way and picked the note up.

I’m here for you, mate, whenever you need me, give me a call. She loved you, Draco, and she would be heartbroken to see you like this. Give me a call soon. Blaise. 

Draco threw the letter to the floor. Of course, Hermione would be upset at his state, but he was sure she would have expected no less. 

He had watched her die, held her in his arms as she took her last breath. Heard her say that she loved him and would do so forever. 

His mind took him to the one place he didn’t want to visit again, but knew it would haunt him forever.

She had been gone for longer than she said she would be, and Draco was beginning to get worried. She still wasn’t 100% recovered and he hated to let her out of his sight, but knew he had to, otherwise she may well have killed him for fussing over her all the time.

She had gone to Hogsmeade to visit Ginny and Neville, who had taken positions up at the school. Harry and Ron were supposedly joining her and dropping her home, but Draco had an owl from Hermione earlier to say that they couldn’t make it. She asked if he would pick her up, as Apparition for her alone was still too dangerous. She told him to meet her on the edge of Hogsmeade village.

Draco had been waiting for half an hour when he had started along the path to the school. That was when he had heard her scream. 

“HERMIONE!” He had yelled, began running in the direction of the scream. He had found her lying on the floor, just off of the roadside. 

“Hermione,” he cried, “What happened?” He saw blood, even more than the last time it had poured from her body. 

As she tried to speak, blood bubbled from her mouth. Tears poured from her eyes.

“The… same… curse,” she struggled out. Draco tried to get his wand out to try and heal her. 

“Draco,” she rasped touching his face with her dirt covered hand, “It… won’t… work. Not this time.” 

His tears poured down his face and fell to her clothes. 

“Who?” he asked quietly, pulling her up slightly to try and make her more comfortable. 

“Me.” A voice spoke, a voice that Draco knew only to well.

“You?” he asked traumatized. “What? Why?” 

“My Pureblood line is to be muddied by her dirty blood? Did you really think you’d get very far, Draco? The Dark Lord may be gone, but his beliefs live on in a fair few.”

“You were presumed dead, where have you been? Why?” Draco asked, stunned at the sight of his father, who he had believed to be dead after he went missing from the Manor. 

“I’ll tell you afterwards Draco; right now, I would like to watch the little Mudblood take her final breaths. There can’t be many left. To be hit with the same curse twice is unlucky and can cause complications, but with this curse it is lethal. Her body will bleed out in front of you, my boy, and may it teach you a lesson not to lower yourself to such standards again.” Lucius laughed.

Draco turned to Hermione, her breathing was slowing and her eyelids fluttering. 

“Hold on, baby, I need to do something before you leave me,” he told her, his steel-like resolve instantly returning as his father laughed.

His wand at the ready, he faced his sire and roared.

“AVADA KEDRAVA!”

His spell hit his father’s body falling before his eyes. There was no remorse in Draco’s face when he turned back to her, his brave Gryffindor who was holding on to life despite her slowing heart.

“I’m not sure I can live without you Hermione,” he whispered. “You brought me back, made me strong again, how can I be that without you?”

“Draco, I told you… I would love you forever… and I… meant it,” she forced her words out slowly. Her tears were flowing freely. 

“It would appear that forever in this life isn’t as long as we thought it was, love,” he told her. 

Her breathing rattled now, the blood was choking her, he realised. 

“Draco… I love you…” she whispered as best she could. “You can live without me, knowing that I’ll be waiting on the other side.” 

“No, Hermione, I love you, please don’t leave me,” he sobbed. 

He kissed her then, feeling her lips move ever so slightly under his. He pulled away and looked down at her golden eyes once more.

“Let me go, Draco.”

She touched his face one last time with her hand, before it fell away and the light from her eyes died as they slid shut.

Draco still could not recall how long he sat there by the roadside, or even how Potter and the others managed to find him and drag Hermione’s body away from his arms. 

The last few days had been a blur and he had no clue as to what his days had been filled with. He only knew what was missing and how unfair this life was.

I feel cheated and defeated  
Can’t believe that you’re gone  
Oh, it was wrong  
It wasn’t long enough

Life will go on, he had been told, countless of times by countless of people, and he knew deep down it would. The young Malfoy also knew that he would never love another woman in his lifetime. 

He would dedicate his life to fighting the evil that resided in this world. Evil like his father, who had taken the last thing that Draco had loved away from him. He would fight it in honour of her memory, and when his time came, he would accept death as a relief and as his paid debt to the bad things he himself had done in his life. 

He knew he would see her again; after all they had said forever, and whilst they hadn’t had long enough time together, he had enough of her to keep him going.

It wasn’t long enough  
No, it wasn’t long enough  
It wasn’t long enough together  
But it was long enough  
Yeah, it was long enough  
To last, to last, to last Forever.


End file.
